The international transportation of goods is undertaken primarily by sea. Therefore, maritime contracts have an important place in international business transactions. As important as they are, maritime contracts seldom involve only exporters and importers. They often involve various other parties and as a consequence various other agreements, with dispute resolution clauses. For instance, charterparties, which are standard form contracts between a charterer who takes over the use of the whole or a substantial portion of a ship and the shipowner, often include arbitration clauses.
Bills of lading are documents evidencing receipt of goods for shipment issued by the transporter or freight forwarder. They are transport contracts that determine, inter alia, how goods will be shipped, when they will be loaded, when they should arrive at a destination, and sometimes where and how the quality of the goods will be verified. Again it is quite usual to find ADR clauses in bills of lading.
In addition to the foregoing, in maritime disputes, time is of the essence as the goods may perish or deteriorate quickly as well as the fact that demurrage may be payable when a ship arrives late. Although Court intervention can be important where conservatory or provisional measures are urgently required, such as restraining a party from removing assets from a certain territory, arresting a vessel or appointing an expert, litigation will rarely be suited to the speedy resolution demanded by such disputes.
